When asked repeatedly about his injured quarterback and perhaps the dumb coaching decision in the preseason that led to that injury, suddenly Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera had somewhere he needed to be.
Specifically, not at that press conference.
Rivera bailed on the press after reporters refused to talk about what he wanted to talk about, in this case the upcoming game against the Arizona Cardinals and instead wanted to focus on the pesky elephant in the room; Cam Newton’s health.
Ron Rivera walks out of press conference. Didn’t want to be asked any more questions about Cam Newton. #Panthers pic.twitter.com/ZE1dYOWUi4
— Phillip Boyce (@phillipjboyce) September 19, 2019
The coach finally had enough.
“I’m not going to this anymore,” Rivera said as he shut down his Thursday press conference. “I told you I won’t know anymore until tomorrow.”
With one win in his last 10 games, Rivera has to be feeling a little warm in the trousers and the fact that playing Newton in the preseason, let alone leaving him in for three series in the third preseason game, could be what sets that seat on fire.
He’s sick of talking about it. That’s just tough.
Pat Shurmer cancels WFAN appearance
Rivera wasn’t the only head coach looking to dodge questions about his quarterback. New York Giants commander in chief Pat Shurmer has backed out on his planned appearance on WFAN with Mike Francesa.
Apparently last week Francesa hurt Shurmer’s feelings by stating the obvious, “You look like a terrible team. You’re not good at anything.”
Shumer responded by proving Francesa correct the following Sunday. Now, the grumpy radio host will just have to talk to himself about it.
an antiquated spot that no longer helps fans follow the team, tons of content out there every day from Shurmer and #NYGiants rt @sportswatch: Pat Shurmur has cancelled his weekly radio segment with @MikeFrancesa, @NewsdaySports has learned. #NYGiants https://t.co/T84hvqxviw
— bigdaddystyle (@bigdaddystyle) September 19, 2019
“I think that was an organizational decision not to do that (Francesa’s show),” Shurmer claimed. “Most people aren’t aware of this, but I wasn’t contractually obligated to do that spot. We did it as a courtesy and out of respect for our relationship with the radio station. We just felt like for a while there, we’ll put that to bed for a while, and just not do it and move forward it.”
That’s got to be the weirdest worded break-up letter Francesa’s ever received.
H/T NBC Sports
